After Miss. Alia taught the Black Panthers, Malcolm X and MLK all summer, Boys and Girls’ Club teens planned, organized and executed the first youth-led anti-violence march with 100 kids ages 5-13 years old in Newark history (Summer 2012)
About Alia Berry MSW, LSW
Alia Berry is a licensed community-based social worker with 20 years of experience serving ages 0-60 in a variety of settings from early childhood to group homes to correctional facilities.
As an LSW, Alia is a state-certified School Social Worker and holds a Masters Degree with a focus on Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) with a concentration on Perpetrators. She is also dually certified in Elementary/Special Education.
Alia completed her graduate work at Rutgers University in Newark, NJ and her undergraduate studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.
As a consultant, she has served clients such as the City of Newark, Rutgers University, The H.U.B.B, SheWINS Inc., United Community Corporation and multiple K-12 school districts such as Newark Public Schools, BRICK Education Network, South Orange-Maplewood School District and Hillside Public Schools.
What People Are Saying
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I have had the pleasure of working with Alia Berry as a colleague and program partner for the past three years. Her unique approach to cultivating youth through academic, socio-emotional, and participatory action is—quite simply—unmatched.
Seeds & Berries partnered with SHE Wins Inc. and brought to our Summer Leadership Program a unique educational service-learning project, in which students studied, designed, and implemented a social action project. I personally witnessed my students transform their leadership, critical thinking, problem-solving, and project management skills as a result. It is this powerful fusion of passion, skill, and innovation that makes Seeds & Berries an invaluable asset to every organization that has the pleasure of working with them.
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— A’Dorian Murray Thomas, CEO of SHE Wins Inc.
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It goes without saying that Ms. Berry brings an element to the table and discussion that many within our field of grassroot work do not possess nor can be purchased via those Ivy League educations. She has impacted me professionally as a constant reminder that the work we do isn’t a 9 to 5, it is a lifestyle that requires heart, passion, and genuine love for people and disdain for inequity. Ms. Berry is a force whether on the worst block in Newark or in a boardroom, challenging the status quo. She not only has heart but has access to youth, the streets, our people and our communities that makes her work so much more meaningful and purposeful.
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— Natalie Ebolum Esq. MACRJ, Attorney and former colleague
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Ms. Berry has long been a champion of the underserved and designed her professional pathway to work with this group. In that vein, she has also looked to support those who battle with her to do the best job they can in the same charge, inclusive of teaching, nurturing and challenging growth in the team around her.
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— Darrell Price, Site Coach at Opportunity Youth Network
“All those who are a part of a community have a valuable contribution to make and should not be judged, feared or dismissed based on their actions stemming from the complex conditions of poverty. ”
Photos from the field
Supported and trained a cohort of young Leaders from SHEWins’ Summer Leadership Academy and Rutgers’ Abbott Leadership Institute to facilitate a Support Group in the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center with their incarcerated peers (Summer 2019)
‘Restorative Center’ hosted by the Opportunity Youth Network (OYN) in partnership with Newark Public Schools where Seeds & Berries worked as a Behaviorist to design this unprecedented therapeutic (5-25 day) suspension program. Space built by OYN’s certified construction students (2017-2018)
Facilitating professional development with administrators Pre-K-12 in Hillside School District on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (2020)